


Gajevy Week 2017

by Diana_Raven



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Angst, F/M, First Dates, Gajevy Week, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, angst is easier for me to write, because like why else would i write a first date?, did i already say angst?, doctor/EMT au, fascination with scars, finally some fluff, first dates going wrong, fun fact i dont know the trouble twins' names so they dont have any in this, oh no rain and no extra clothes what do, sorry if the angst prompts are better than the others, sorry jet and droy are basically one character, there will be other characters, they both die, which is fun, which really tells ya something about me huh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-31
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-20 22:48:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9519347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diana_Raven/pseuds/Diana_Raven
Summary: My contribution to Gajevy Week 2017!  (tags and warnings will be added by update)





	1. Jan 31st-- Alternate Universe

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! This is my first time participating in Gajevy Week, so... ta dah!
> 
> Also, warning for the Jan 31st one-shot, I... actually have never been in the medical profession so all my knowledge of the medical stuff in here comes from my lovely Beta @ilovebeingintroverted (on tumblr)/WhatAreAllTheseTears (on Fanfiction) via her friends, and my mother, an ex-EMT. 
> 
> So.... sorry if it sucks in that area

Levy pulled her scrubs over her head, listening to Lucy talk. “So, as I was saying, he’s really great and he’s been single for a while.”

“No, Lu.” Levy began to dress in her civvies.

“ _Please_ Levy? You _never_ get out of the house.”

“I’m perfectly fine, Lu. I don’t need to go on a blind date.”

Lucy put her arms over Levy’s locker door, slouching over it. “C’mon, Lev. _Pleeease_ , Natsu vouches for him.” She pleaded, using her puppy eyes.

“I’m just not into EMTs like you are.”

“ _Pleeeeaaase_. Just this one time. I’ll be your best friend~” she promised.

Levy sighed and slipped on her shoes, bending down to tie them. “Fine. But,” Levy pointed at Lucy to emphasize her point. “I reserve the right to send you a frantic text and have you come up with an emergency which means that I _must_ leave the date immediately.”

Lucy laughed. “Okay, Lev. But I don’t think you’re going to need to do that.”

“We’ll see, Lu.”

“He’ll pick you up from your house around eight!” Lucy called as Levy grabbed her bag and waved goodbye to her friend. 

* * *

_What did one wear to a blind date?_ Levy stood in front of her closet, hair drying in a towel twist. Everything she had was either scrubs, sweatpants and ratty t-shirts that she’d had for like ten years, and evening gowns. Somehow she doubted that evening gowns would be appropriate and sweats definitely weren’t. Levy dug around in her drawers looking for _anything_ she could possibly wear. Scrounging through her clothes she finally found a half decent dress. It was bright orange with a white belt. Albeit nice, but in it she looked like an orange with a sash. Oh well, at least her blue hair made her look less like a fruit. The dress was a little too short for her blind date preferences but it would have to do.

Levy glanced at the clock. Seven thirty. Good, she had time to do make up. Hmm… she didn’t want to overdo it, especially because she had no idea what he would be like. What if he liked girls in heavy make-up? What if he hated it? What if he was shallow enough to care?

Levy decided just basic foundation and mascara. She stared at the lip gloss hesitantly before putting it in her purse, just in case. She glanced at the clock again, seven forty five. So he should be here soon. Levy decided to go downstairs and read until he got here, reading helped calm her nerves and made any and all qualms she had at the moment go away. She almost didn’t even notice when eight o’clock hit. Almost.

So she sat, in her house, at eight o’clock, all dressed up and no knock on the door. _It’s fine_ , she told herself, _he might be working late and forgot to call to cancel. No! Don’t be so pessimistic, he probably got stuck in traffic, besides Lu said he’s be here_ around _eight, not eight on the dot._ Slightly reassured she went back to her book, every so often checking the clock.

Eight oh five.

Eight ten.

Eight fifteen.

This was ridiculous. Levy closed her book with a snap and began to walk upstairs to change into pajamas and wash off her make-up. _This_ was _precisely_ why she didn’t date EMTs, especially _blind_ date them. That was when there was a knock on the door.

Seriously?

She huffed and went back downstairs and opened the door to… well, a chest. A very wide chest. One that had a white button down stretched across it. Levy’s eyes slowly traveled up, and up, and up. Jesus, was this guy _just_ che-Oh. She had gotten to his face, which was sharply defined, high cheekbones and sun-tanned skin. He took a step back and frowned.

“You’re really short.” The mountain of man said very loudly.

Levy was too shocked to respond. “I-um. You’re really tall.” She countered dumbly. He smirked. Levy vaguely remembered a fleeting thought about how it was one of the only things he hadn’t pierced, because his face, for all intents and purposes, seemed to be a pin cushion. Okay, so _maybe_ she was exaggerating. But he really _did_ have a lot of piercings. They dotted curves where his eyebrows were supposed to be, and they followed the edge of his ear, the top earrings hoops and the ones embedded in his lobes looked like steel studs.

“Yeah. That happens when you get older. I mean, obviously not to you.”

Levy scowled. “That’s rude.”

The man raised an eyebrow before holding out a (non-pierced, but manicured with black nail polish) hand. “Gajeel Redfox.”

She shook his hand and it almost engulfed hers. Seriously? Who was actually this large? “Levy McGarden.”

“Hey, you’re that ER doctor who occasionally gets sent out of conference rooms because people think you’re too young to be a doctor!”

Levy blushed heavily. Why did people keep spreading that story around? It had been _one time_! “T-that only happened once!”

Gajeel Redfox snorted. “I can see why they kicked you out. You’re _tiny_!”

Levy crossed her arms over her chest. “And you’re late.” She accused. Gajeel at least had the decency to look slightly abashed.

“I was busy at work. Sorry. I didn’t have your number and Natsu had already left on his ride.”

Well, she guessed she could excuse tardiness in that case. They _were_ in the medical profession after all. “So…” Gajeel began awkwardly. “Shall we go?” He asked. Levy gave him a stiff nod and grabbed a coat before locking the door and walking out to the street.

“That one.” Gajeel said pointing to a black sports car.

Levy looked at him in surprise. “How did you get that on your salary?”

“Now who’s the rude one?” Gajeel said with a smirk. He opened her door for her and Levy began reconsidering this whole not-dating-EMTs thing of hers. “Dad’s a dealer, he gave one to me cheap.”

“Huh. Think you could score me a deal?” She asked as casually as possible.

Gajeel outright laughed at that. “Depends if you break my heart or not.” He said.

Levy’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second and Gajeel saw her expression. “I’m _kidding_ Shrimp, lighten up.”

Levy blushed again. She hated that she kept doing that. He started the car and turned on the radio. Surprisingly some type of rock/metal band didn’t play, instead the music that filled the vehicle was pop music. Levy looked at her driver quizzically.

“I-I thought you might like this music better.” He offered as an explanation.

_I don’t listen to pop music_. “It’s nice.” Levy lied. The rest of the ride to the restaurant was silent.

The restaurant was a nice place, not overly fancy but clearly expensive. It even needed a reservation. Gajeel told the greeter their names and she led them to a table near the middle of the dimning floor. Levy sat on her chair, across from Gajeel. She nicely placed her napkin in her lap, feeling a tad underdressed here (it didn’t help that her legs didn’t reach the floor and they swung awkwardly under the table, she hated when that happened, it always made her feel like a child). Gajeel had long black hair that was tied into a ponytail behind him. His shiny black nails placed the napkin in his lap as well.

A waitress appeared in a black button down and black slacks with a small beige half-apron around her waist. She handed the two of them menus and smiled before disappearing. Levy opened her hesitantly, glancing at the foods. They were all a little rich for her taste, truth be told she would have been fine with a burger.

She finally chose a chicken dish with a side of salad. Gajeel chose a steak. Neither had spoken to one another since the music-in-the-car conversation. When the waitress asked if they wanted wine, Levy who was considering excusing herself to the bathroom to send the get-me-out-of-here text to Lucy, almost nodded vehemently but Gajeel waved it off, saying that they were fine with water. So, Levy said nothing.

They sat quietly, looking everywhere but each other until Gajeel mumbled: “So, like your job?”

Levy hadn’t… expected that question. “I guess. You?”

“’S pretty fun. Expect when someone has an adrenaline rush and doesn’t understand we’re trying to help him.”

Levy smiled softly. “I once had a guy try to punch me because he thought I was going to tell the CIA he was in my ER.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. He was having hallucinations. Took five orderlies to get him still long enough for me to sedate him.”

“Damn. I mean, I’ve had nothing that exciting. Except one time, my rig was called onto a gunshot wound call, turned out the dude had shot himself in the ass.”

“What? _How_?”

He grinned slyly. “You _don’t_ want to know.”

“Is it true that you guys just sit around when you aren’t on a call?”

“No! We drive around… I mean, what else are we supposed to do?”

“So do you know the entire city like the back of your hand?”

“We only patrol a certain area in the city, but yeah. I know it pretty well.” Levy watched as he tugged on the cuff of his black blazer that he wore over his shirt. “You know, you’re different from other doctors.”

“Good different or bad different?” She asked as she took a long sip from her glass of water. That was never a good sentence.

“Good different. I mean, all the doctors I’ve ever met are always so cocky. Like get off your goddamn horse, am I right?” Levy felt her lips begin to purse. “Not that you’re like that or anything.” He added.

Levy wasn’t sure if she should have been offended or not, so she just stayed silent. Gajeel bit his lip awkwardly and toyed with the cuff of his jacket again. Was he waiting for her to speak?

They were thankfully interrupted by their food. They dug in gratefully, and the silence continued as they ate. They were ten minutes into their meal when they heard a loud scream and a crash. They turned towards the source of the sound.

A woman stood, hands clenching and unclenching, looking around frantically. “My husband!” She cried. “My husband! He just collapsed! Someone help him, please!”

“Is anyone a doctor in the building?” One of the waiters called. Levy and Gajeel were on their feet in seconds, pushing past the crowd of restaurant patrons who had risen to see what the fuss was all about.

“Move! I’m a doctor!” Levy said, trying to get to the man on the ground. For some reason whenever she said that no one moved. It really annoyed her.

“EVERYBODY _MOVE_!” Gajeel roared, and the sea of people parted shocked by the loud voice. 

“I’ll get the defibrillator!” One of the waiters called, running off to the kitchen where they presumably kept it.

“I’ll deal with him and the wife.” Gajeel told Levy. “You’re the doctor, you check on the guy.” Levy nodded, before running to the fallen body.

“Sir, sir can you hear me?” Levy asked, patting his face sharply. He didn’t move. She opened his shirt and found the sternum, rubbing against it hard. Still nothing. No, no, no, no, no. She checked his pulse. Nothing. Crap.

Meanwhile Gajeel was trying to calm the wife, who was crying still babbling about her husband and how he just fell. Hysterical. Lovely. Best thing a doctor needed. “Hey. _Hey._ ” Gajeel snapped when asking nicely didn’t shake her from her sobs. She stopped babbling and looked at him, terrified. He’d only seen that look _too_ many times. “I need to know, if your husband on any medication? Any diseases?”

She shook her head before quietly adding: “H-he has a p-pacemaker.”

“Levy! Pacemaker!” Gajeel called to the doctor who had just finished her examination of the patient.

“No pulse. Starting compressions.” She responded.

“C-compressions?” The wife shouted distraughtly. “That-that means he’s d-dead right? Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” _Fuck_ , Gajeel thought. _She’s hyperventilating._

“He’s going to be okay.” Gajeel assured her, sparing a quick glance to the large old man who had fallen on the ground and small woman on top of him. “Doctor McGarden is very good at her job. And I have another question that you have to answer. When he fell, did he just fall, or did he clutch his chest? Did his left arm hurt?”

“He clutched his chest. I thought it was nothing. It’s all my fault!” She wailed, grabbing Gajeel’s shirt and weeping into it.

“Listen, I can help your husband, but to do that you need to let go of me. Okay? So can you take a deep breath and let go?” The wife nodded weakly, and Gajeel ran over to Levy. He joined her on the floor, kneeling next to the man.

“Heart attack.”  He told her. She stopped her compressions to test his pulse. Still nothing.

“I’ve got the defibrillator!” The waiter cried, running past the staring circle of people around them.

“Get him out of here!” Levy snapped as she pumped the man’s chest.

Gajeel turned to the waiter. “Put that away, we can’t use that.”

“What do you mean you can’t use it? Don’t you doctor people use them in the TV shows?”

“Yes. But we use hospital ones, those won’t work on someone not in V-Fib—look, because science it won’t tell the difference between him and a table, we can’t use it. If you want to be helpful, get everyone away from here and call nine-one-one.”

The waiter nodded dutifully and set aside the equipment. He turned to the patrons and ushered them back to their seats. “Nothing to see here folks!” He told them. Gajeel knew he wouldn’t be successful but at least he was out of the way.

Gajeel knelt next to the man and grabbed a napkin from one of the tables near them and held it between his mouth the unconscious man’s mouth to prevent germs from spreading between them. He began breathing into the man’s mouth, and every two minutes the two of them would stop and Levy would check the man’s pulse. She didn’t even need to shake her head to let Gajeel know the verdict, all he needed was the look in her eyes before she went back to pressing on his chest.

“The ambulance is five minutes out!” The waiter called out to them.

“Thank you.” Levy said without pausing in her compressions.

The man beneath them blissfully unaware (at least from the look on his face) that he was dead. Behind them Levy could hear the wife whimpering and the awed whispers of the bystanders. She paused to take the man’s pulse. Nothing, _dammit_! Back to compressions. _Come on, come on, COME ON_!

The time was paradoxical in its speed. On one hand every second seemed to take forever, but at the same time when the paramedics arrived Levy was almost surprised at how quickly they’d showed up. “Sudden heart attack, pacemaker must have shorted. Been administering CPR for…” She glanced at Gajeel who was helping the on-duty EMTs roll the man from the backboard they’d put him on to the gurney. One of Natsu’s partners, Juvia Locksar was doing compressions for the man while she kept pace with the rolling gurney.

“Six minutes.”  He supplied.

“You and Gajeel were first on scene?” Natsu asked as he began to roll the gurney (with the help of another one of his partners, Gray Fullbuster) to the ambulance.

“Yes.”

“You have to ride with us.” Natsu informed her. By law she wasn’t allowed to leave the patient in the hands of less qualified people.

“I know.” She spared Gajeel an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Gajeel.”

“It’s the law, Shrimp, I get it.”

“Where are they taking my husband?” The wife howled. Gajeel walked over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Ma’am. He’s in the hands of the best emergency room doctor in Magnolia. If you want we can follow the ambulance to the hospital.” He paused and yelled to Natsu who was already loading the man onto his rig. “MAG GEN, RIGHT?”

“YEAH. SEE YOU THERE, METALFACE.” Levy climbed into the vehicle after the gurney and closed the doors behind her. Levy grabbed a breathing bag, and pressed it over the mouth of the man, Juvia continued to press on his chest.

Juvia paused and checked for a pulse. “He’s got one!” She cried happily. “Slow but there.”

“He’s not breathing though.” Levy told the other woman. Levy handed the bag to Juvia who continued to bag him. “Where’s your oxygen?”

“Top shelf, right.”

Levy climbed frowned. Sometimes her size sucked. She looked at the floor, and climbed onto a bag of ResuAnnies. She grabbed one of the oxygen tubes and almost fell as they ran over a pothole and the vehicle shook. She returned to her cramped seat between the gurney and the wall of medicine. She handed it to Juvia who hooked the tube to the back of bag and Juvia continued bagging him. Levy counted his pulse, fifty beats per minute. She took a deep breath and leaned back against the wall of medicine, drawer handles digging into her back.

“So?” Natsu asked. Levy glanced up at him in the rearview mirror. “How was the date?” 

* * *

The ER was rather empty. Lucy ran up to her friend, taking the bag from her. “Middle-aged. Heart attack. Pulse, but still has difficulty breathing, keep him on oxygen. Wife en route.”

Lucy began ordering nurses around, once they got him to a bed. Lucy took a minute to ask Levy about her date. Levy shrugged. “It was fine.” She offered.

Levy heard the familiar voice of the frantic wife of the man that she’d saved. The woman ran past Levy like a speeding bullet and wailed over her husband distracting Lucy for a minute. Five feet behind her was a winded Gajeel. Gajeel took a deep breath and braced himself on his knees.

“She’s really fucking fast.” He heaved. “I think I broke like nine traffic laws because of her.”

“Uh huh.” She said, crossing her arms.

“Look,” He said once he caught his breath, “I’m really sorry about dinner. You were really amazing tonight.”

Levy blushed. Why did she keep doing that tonight? “Thanks. You were too.”

“I know.” He said cockily. And yet… Levy was starting to find that endearing. “Hey, you’ve done your ethical and legal duty and he’s in great hands. You want to get dinner?”

Levy raised an eyebrow. “Nothing fancy.” He said with a grin. “How ‘bout burgers?”

Levy smiled. “I’d love some burgers.”

Gajeel’s grin widened and he held out his arm for her to take, and she did.


	2. Feb 14th--Matching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently i must write angst whenever possible. I'm sorry. 
> 
> as always, betaed by WhatAreAllTheseTears (ffn)/ @ilovebeingintroverted (tumblr)

At first Gajeel wondered why Levy would stare at his arms. After a while he figured that it was because of his muscles, except that she didn’t stare at Laxus or Gray like that. Then he figured it was his piercings, because all things considered arm-piercings were rather rare, but it should have been a shock once and then a regular sight, she shouldn’t have kept staring with the amount of time they’d known each other which confused him. Then there was the way and when that she looked at them, it was always subtle glances, as if she was afraid that he’d catch her staring, but she never blushed when he did catch her. She just looked away for a few minutes before going right back to staring. At first Gajeel didn’t recognize the look, but one day he was helping Levy with research and he saw it again.

Why was the look she gave his arms the same as the one she gave problems she was trying to solve?

So when it came to her gaze it turned out Gajeel was clueless, and Gajeel didn’t particularly like being clueless.

As he inconspicuously watched her watch him he noticed one more thing. She wasn’t just staring at his arms, but she was staring at one in particular, his right.

One night he stood in front of his mirror at home, examining his appendages. Trying to figure out why they were so interesting. Lily peeked into his room, watching him interestedly. “What are you doing, Gajeel?”

Gajeel jumped, startled. “I’m um… staring at my arms?”

Pantherlily waddled into the room. He floated up to Gajeel’s shoulders and stared at the body parts in question from his friend’s vantage point. “Why?” He asked.

“Levy keeps starin’ at them.”

Pantherlily floated back down to the floor. “And you’re wondering why?” Gajeel nodded but continued to look back at his body. “Why don’t you ask her?” Lily asked.

Gajeel sputtered. “I can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“Because then she’ll know that I know that she’s been staring at me.”

“Yes…?”

“And I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Cuz I… can’t?”

Pantherlily rolled his eyes and walked back out of the room. _Puppy love_ , he thought exasperatedly. 

* * *

 

The cave was cold but dry. Gajeel and Levy scrambled around for something they could light, Levy only had enough magic energy for one spell left and as they didn’t have anything to light a fire with so they wanted to save her spell for that. Gajeel cried out in happiness as he found some dry mulch in a corner of the cave. He moved the kindling closer to the center and Levy let out her last burst of magic energy writing a solid-script fire, lighting the mulch.

As the rain pounded outside the cave, Gajeel and Levy slipped off their soaked clothes, leaving them on the cave floor near the fire to dry. Levy warmed her hands by the fire, watching as Gajeel bent over, his back to her, to take off his wet pants. His old scars gleamed in the flickering light, the ones that had faded mostly to white by now were shinier than the angry red one which were newer. Levy liked staring at Gajeel’s scars, she liked the jagged lines and the way that they moved when he did. She liked the tales they proved true. She looked at her own skin sometimes, and ran her fingers down it. She could feel some of her own scars, but she didn’t have many, most were on her hands and they were from some type of paper or another. She had few calluses; mostly her skin was clean, pure, unmarred by anything.  She sometimes wondered what it would be like to touch them. She sometimes wondered what it would be like to have them.

“Shrimp?” Gajeel asked. Levy blinked out of her thoughts, averting her eyes quickly from him. It wasn’t the first time he’d caught her staring at him.

“Yeah?”

“Are-are you okay?”

Levy nodded, eyes glued to the dirt ground. “Why do you keep staring at me?” he finally asked. She’d known the question was coming for weeks.

Levy glanced back at him. Gajeel was facing her now, naked but for his boxers, he sat on the other side of the fire. The light from it flitted across his skin, marks and all, and across his face. That face that looked slightly concerned and very confused. A very Gajeel look if she did say so herself.

She shrugged. There was a newfound openness, she realized, between them. In this cave, with the rain pounding outside, and the fire that had just started but in no way would stay burning the whole night, with just the two of them. Technically they were on a mission, but they’d been separated from Jet and Droy and Lily and now they were all alone in a storm and Levy _really_ wanted to touch Gajeel’s skin.

Levy hadn’t had her own thoughts this disorganized for a long time, but there was something about the rain and the cold.

She hadn’t realized she was shivering but soon she was, no matter how close to the fire she got. “Shit. Why didn’t you say you were cold?” Gajeel chided.

“I didn’t know I was.” Levy answered, but the response was feeble and Gajeel had already decided on a plan of action. He moved closer to her until they were just barely touching. He felt his clothes, making sure they were still wet so this would be the only way to keep her warmer, and then he held her. He shifted her into his lap, long arms covering her body protectively. Levy’s side was pushed against his chest.

Levy could feel his own body heat radiating off of him, warming her up from outside in. She turned slightly so she was facing him and put a hand against his chest, feeling the ruddy dark complexion. Her fingers landed on a scar, smooth and small. What was this one from? Impalement? She couldn’t think of any other thing that would make such a circular, small mark. She moved her fingers, drawing them on his skin, almost surprised when they didn’t make marks of their own. She wound them up his chest and over his shoulder. Slowly, slowly, she felt down his arm, his right arm, the one with the swirl of scars at the bottom.

She trickled her fingers down. Touching that imperfect skin, feeling it in a way she never had before. When she finally reached the scars on his lower arm, which happened to be around her waist, she traced each of them. Tentatively, as if she was afraid any minute now Gajeel would pull back, that he would make her stop.

He didn’t.

In his arms, with her fingers exploring the skin within reach, she had almost forgotten he was there. But he was, and when she pressed down on his wrist, feeling the bones beneath one particular one his breath hitched and she jumped, startled by his conscious presence.

“What-what are you doing?” He finally asked once he caught his breath.

She looked up at him, large hazel eyes that glittering in the shadows from the fire. “I-wanted to feel your scars.” She spoke softly.

So that’s why she’d been staring at his arm, with his clothes on it would have been some of the only scars she could see.

“Is that okay?” Levy asked cautiously.

Gajeel nodded without hesitation. 

* * *

 

“LEVY!” He roared as the female wizard dropped to the ground, cradling her arm. The opponent of theirs, the reason they had been on this mission in the first place, had an odd looking sword, which had several blades so that with one swipe it would cut multiple times.

Gajeel ran as fast as he could to her, but she was shaking her head vehemently as Jet and Droy put all they had into beating the guy. “Help… them.” She mumbled, eyes glazed and pale skin sickly sweaty.

“I’m not leaving you.” Gajeel argued. He couldn’t stop staring at her arm, oh god her hand, her precious dainty hand with which she used to write and cast her magic. It lay before him mangled, but not as badly as her arm which was striped with blood. Oh Mavis, _Levy_.

“ _Go_!” The mage grit out, body beginning to shake from shock. “ _Go_! Help _them_!”

“Levy I won’t-“

“I said, _go_!” She snapped, pushing him away with her other hand. Her other hand which was colored red from her own blood. The hand she had been using to support her torn up arm and broken hand. She left a red mark on his clothes and Gajeel had to hold down the bile that threatened to crawl up his throat. Never before had he been so disgusted by blood, but it was just so unnatural to see Levy like that. Blood and muscle. Because Levy was pure and unmarred and Levy didn’t have scars. Her precious porcelain skin was flawless. Awkwardly Gajeel stumbled to his feet and with her urging him on, trembling as her own adrenaline checked out and shock checked in, he fought their opponent. He fought for her.

The battle was soon over and Jet was kneeling next to her, her small body curled in a ball. Lily was speaking softly and Droy was saying something to Gajeel, something which he couldn’t quite hear. His dragon slayer hearing directed solely on Levy and her heaving words.

“I need you to keep talking to me, Levy.” Lily told her gently.

“I-I’m so-rry.” She gasped out. “I-I tried to b-be like y-you.”

“Hey. It’s alright. You’re not at fault.” Lily responded. Droy had pushed Gajeel closer to her. Lily looked up at his friend, cross eyes snapping Gajeel from his gaze. “Gajeel! Your scarf!”

 “O-oh. Right.” _Oh Mavis Levy was going to die, Levy was going to die, Levy was going to die, why couldn’t he get this fucking scarf unwound from around him, Levy was going to die._ He stumbled with the article of clothing which was finally ripped from him by Droy and wrapped tightly around Levy’s wounded arm. It was quickly stained dark with her blood.

“Levy, dear, does that hurt?” Lily asked.

Levy frowned between shivers. “I don’t-does what hurt?”

Lily’s painted smile faltered for a second. “The scarf. It’s wrapped pretty tightly.”

“Oh.” Levy glanced down at the arm in question, lightly touching the garment with her other hand. “I didn’t-I don’t feel it. It’s all tingly.”

Lily and Jet exchanged looks. Looks that didn’t look good. _Oh god Levy was going to die, Levy was going to die and Gajeel never told her, they never—Levy was going to die_. “Is that bad?” Levy asked.

“No, dear. It’s perfectly normal.” Even Gajeel could tell that Lily was lying. _Oh god oh god oh dear Mavis and anyone else above Levy was going to die oh god_ he would plead to anyone who would listen to let her live.

“Gajeel,” Droy whispered so that Levy wouldn’t overhear. “You’re the strongest, please Gajeel…” He requested. Gajeel was kneeling beside her. He was picking her up, carefully cradling her to his chest. Jet had already run off, leaving the three others to carry Levy as far as they could to civilization while Jet ran for help.

It wasn’t long before Gajeel’s scarf was a used tourniquet, thick with spent blood, and had to be switched out for something else. They used Droy’s shirt and as they were rewrapping Gajeel had begun to unknowingly cry.

“Gajeel, what’s wr-wrong?” Levy rasped.

Gajeel was holding Levy while Lily and Droy applied the new make-shift bandage. She was shaking so fervently Gajeel was afraid if he tried to hold her still she would break. “I’m so sorry, Levy.” He whispered. “I’m so sorry for not protecting you.”

“Stupid Gajeel.” She said with a weak laugh. Those hazel eyes of hers shone in the afternoon sun. “Think on the bright side, now we match.”

Gajeel didn’t know if it was possible to cry harder.


	3. Feb 15th - Longing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently I can only write angst well so I am sorry for this and how short it is but its here.... 
> 
> As always betaed by WhatAreAllTheseTears (ffn)/@ilovebeingintroverted (tumblr)

Longing for someone sucked.

Like a lot.

Not that Gajeel would admit that he _was_ longing to be with Her (or as Lily called it, pining) to anyone. Nooo, that would be _bad_. That would be admitting that yes, he _did_ have a crush on Levy McGarden. Even if he only told one person, that person would tell someone else and that person someone different still, ad infinitum (an expression that he’d picked up from Her) and soon she’d find out and that-that he didn’t want to happen, for a multitude of reasons (he’d learned that word from her too) almost all of which could be traced back to fear of rejection and self loathing (at least that was what Lily said).

So longing it had to stay.

And yeah, longing sucked but he could live with it.

He could live with trying to sneak a glance at her every time she was near him. He could live with picking out missions that were easier with a Solid Script mage so that he would have a reason to be near her. He could live with watching her work, unable to tell her how beautiful she looked. He could live with being unable to press a kiss to her hairline in relief when she did something dangerous and she lived. He could live without holding her hand when they walked. He could even live with enduring the Pups presence, all because of her. Just so he could be near Her.

He needed her in his life, so he would do whatever he could to make sure that she would stay, even if that meant never telling her how he really felt.

And as much as longing—just longing and nothing more—was necessary, he still daydreamt about no longer having to admire from afar. He daydreamt about loving her up front, he dreamt about being able to tell her and being with her as much as humanly possible. But that was all they were, daydreams. That’s all they could be.

And he believed that until he died. Or didn’t die. Whatever.

The Guild was lively that night. Tons of beer and sex and happiness as it usually was when they’d won a battle.

Gajeel sat in the midst of his guildmates. He and Natsu were in the middle of drinking contest when Levy grabbed his mug from him, drained the rest of it, and took his hand dragging him away from the other who loudly catcalled and warned the two to use protection.

Levy pulled Gajeel down into the Guild library (her favorite place, so also his) so that they were away from the loudness of upstairs. She lit the torches with a wave of her hand. Gajeel felt a warm feeling bubble in his chest which he had a feeling had nothing to do with the alcohol he had consumed. She took his hand in hers, how he had longed to have an excuse to do that…

“About Alverez…” she whispered softly. Oh. That. They hadn’t talked about that since… well, since it had happened. Busy not dying (again) and all. “Everything you said there, you meant that. Right?”

“Of course.”  

Levy smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips.

Turns out Gajeel didn’t have to long for Her anymore.


	4. Feb 16th - Pillow Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh I'm not really that proud of this one.... it felt really forced to write. But I did it so
> 
> Betaed by WhatAreAllTheseTears (ffn)/ @ilovebeingintroverted (tumblr)

Levy was warm. Levy liked being warm. She liked Gajeel’s bed too, she liked the soft sheets (“my skin is really sensitive…” he had mumbled, blushing cutely when she’d teased him), she liked the heavy blanket, she liked waking up and feeling an arm around her waist or a hand curled into hers.

“Mornin’.” Levy mumbled softly.

Gajeel grumbled. “No _oooo_ o…”

Levy giggled and poked her boyfriend in the shoulder. He tried to hold back a laugh without succeeding. He smiled. She loved it when he smiled. He had this very cute crinkle that squished up his nose when he smiled. His red eyes didn’t look menacing and he flushed slightly. Levy always loved seeing him redden.

“So, what do you want for breakfast?” Levy asked.

Gajeel scoffed. “There is no way I am letting you in my kitchen.”

“Why not?”

He raised a studded eyebrow.

“I can cook!”

“If by cooking you mean place things prettily on a plate, then yes.”

She stuck out her tongue. He grinned and leaned over to kiss her. Levy sighed into the kiss, whining when Gajeel pulled back from her.

“I’m not really hungry.” Gajeel said. “Besides, I don’t feel like leaving this bed today.” He gave her a wicked smile and Levy rolled her eyes.

“What if you have to use the bathroom?”

Gajeel shrugged. He rolled onto his back so that he stared up at the ceiling. His arms rested on his forehead. He was peaceful here. This. He liked this. He looked back at her and saw she was smiling.

“What’s on your mind?” He asked.

“Nothing much.”

Gajeel laughed. “Ghi hi hi, yeah right. Somethin’s always going on in your head. What is it this time?”

She took his free hand and ran his fingers between hers. “I’m just reveling in the moment.” She said softly. “I love this. Us.”

Gajeel smiled back. “Me too.”

Levy began to rise and Gajeel whined, pulling her back into the bed gently. “Gajeel,” She said, “I actually have work to do.”

“Tell me about it.” Gajeel pleaded.

Levy’s eyes lit up as they always did when she talked about work. She told him her agenda for today, most of it was doing research for whatever missions she had committed herself to. She also had to meet Lucy at the Guild at some point because Lucy was going to give her the next chapter of the book Lucy was writing. Sidetracking, Levy began to explain the plot of Lucy’s book to Gajeel. Gajeel nodded along only partly listening, he was distracted by Levy’s soft flush as she spoke emphatically and the way her soft hands moved as she emphasized her points.

He loved her so much.

When she spoke like that he saw their future together. Their children. The two of them building their own house. The private library Gajeel would make for her one day for her birthday. The new guitar Levy would by him for his. The house parties that would be loud and crazy and hell to clean up in the morning. The late nights with just the two of them and a hearth-fire.

When Levy finished her ecstatic rambling she turned to Gajeel. “What about you? What are you doing today?”

Gajeel raised an eyebrow. “Remember the whole staying in bed all day thing?”

Levy propped herself up on her elbows. “You can’t stay in bed all day! You have to get up! Do stuff! Be productive.”

Gajeel snorted. “Whatever you say, Shrimp.”

“So, when you _do_ get up what are you going to do?” Levy asked.

Gajeel shrugged. He didn’t really have anything on the agenda for today. He generally didn’t anymore, he was either on a mission or just hanging around the Guild. He hadn’t written any songs in a while… maybe he should do that. That’s what Gajeel told her.

Levy nodded excitedly.  “That would be a great idea! Maybe you could play something for me while I work!”

Gajeel nodded. He liked talking about these things, on their shared bed during what still felt like early morning. There was a sense of finality that never came to purchase (despite the fact that he would have loved to have some of the things they talked about in bed become reality). One of them would throw out an idea and the other would agree and put in their two bits but the things they spoke about almost never came to pass. And on some level Gajeel felt like that was okay, that that was the way things were supposed to be.

There was a gentle knock on the door to their bedroom. Levy greeted the knocker who happened to be Pantherlily. “Are you two getting up anytime soon? If not, then I’m going to the Guild alone.”

Levy popped out of bed. “We’re getting dressed.” And so she busied herself with the start of the day, forgetting what they had been speaking about only moments before and so their morning talks stayed pillow talk. Sometimes Gajeel wondered what it would be like if it didn’t.


	5. Feb 17th - Trouble Twins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betaed by WhatAreAllTheseTears (ffn)/ @ilovebeingintroverted (tumblr)
> 
> dad!gajeel is best gajeel

Gajeel was always the first of the two of them up when the twins began to cry, which he was more than okay with. Levy had done all of the hard work after all. Swiftly grabbing the two pre-prepared bottles from his bedside table he slipped out of bed, listening for the telltale intake of breath which preceded the twins’ wailing.

As soon as he reached the doorway of his and Levy’s bedroom the prelude to their crying began and Gajeel dashed across the hall to the twins. Scooping the two up in his arms he stuck bottles into their mouths shushing them for the time being. The twins suckled gaily, tiny hands (everything about them was tiny, except their wails. Tiny hands, tiny feet, tiny noses and tiny nails) clutching onto the bottles for dear life, as if they feared that Gajeel would take the milk away. His daughter closed her eyes while she drank deeply, blue eyelashes fluttering on naturally tan skin. His son, on the other hand, stared at his father, slitted hazel eyes wide and alert.

The only sound in the room was the audible gulping of his children. Straining his ears he could hear the soft breathing of his wife as she slept. This was one of his favorite times of night, sure he would probably have been happier if Levy too was awake, with him, admiring the two perfect beings the two of them had made but Levy both needed and deserved rest. Besides, there was something about the calm with her sleeping, soft breathing lulling his ears, and the babies both in his arms, quiet and at peace. He felt like he and his family were the only people in the world, sometimes he wished that that sentiment was true.

In these hours he gazed at his children, thinking up their lives. He wondered what their favorite colors would be, their best friends (he prayed they wouldn’t grow too attached to Salamander’s brats, Gajeel didn’t know how he felt about possibly being related to the moron), he wondered about their Guild teams, who they would end up going on missions with (obviously the team would include him and Levy until the twins were like… hmmm… maybe 20? That way they wouldn’t be able to get into any trouble). Gajeel wondered what would happen to him and Levy, would they end up like Macao and Wakaba? Just hanging around the Guild? Or would they be more like Bisca and Alzack, going on missions with their children. They hadn’t been on a mission in a while together; usually one would go out and take a non-combat mission and would bring home money while the other took care of the children.

They had both agreed on that until the twins were on solid foods they wouldn’t go away on missions or go on missions together, but the six month marker was coming up soon. He wondered what their first family mission would look like… he could see it now: the Shrimp, blue hair and fiery hazel eyes, and him, a hulking black haired Dragon Slayer, both with papooses strapped to their chests, blue haired children with slitted pupils giggling with glee as their parents wrecked havoc on some Dark Guild scum…

 _Yeah,_ he thought with a snort, _Levy would_ never _go for that._

The sucking noises his children were making had turned into slurping noises and he realized that the twins were almost done with their bottles. Once they had finished he burped them and put them back to bed with a lullaby that he had learned from Metalicana (not that Metalicana sang lullabies to him—just that-ah screw it. So his dragon dad did sing him lullabies when he couldn’t sleep at night, what of it?) and kissed them both once they were securely asleep (at least for the next two hours, when Gajeel would get up and do this again). With a yawn of his own, Gajeel went back to his shared bedroom with his wife and slipped under the covers. He pressed a kiss to her neck, arms wrapped around her middle. Levy smiled in her sleep and burrowed further into him, and slowly he drifted back to sleep.


	6. Feb 18th- First Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betaed by WhatAreAllTheseTears (ffn)/ @ilovebeingintroverted (tumblr)

First dates were supposed to be perfect, at least that’s what everyone told Gajeel when he asked for advice for his first date with Levy. And _maaan_ , had Gajeel fucked _that_ up.

Gajeel had wanted to make it… magical. To do that he didn’t tell her about it, he wanted it to be a surprise—after all she had been begging him to set up a _real_ first date as they’d never had one before. So he’d wanted it to be worth it.

He had planned it down to the last minute. He spent a week picked out what he would wear (it took a _lot_ of bribery for Mira to keep her mouth shut about it). He interrogated her friends as discreetly as possible (read: he asked Lily if he could find out what types of flowers she liked and her favorite foods which Lily did because Lily could actually keep a secret and wasn’t conspicuous when fishing for information). He planned and planned and he tried to keep it a secret (a very expensive secret).

But of course, the evening went to hell and now Levy McGarden and Gajeel Redfox sat in their dress clothes on the ground in the park a bottle of wine between them.

Levy, as always, looked beautiful. She wore her blue hair up in a bun with artfully curled locks of hair falling out of it. The dress she wore was red and long, almost an evening gown. She wore earrings and a necklace, both clear and sparkly (which was the extent of Gajeel’s knowledge about stones). She stretched her small arms, raising her manicured nails over her head. She crossed her right leg over her left, heels had been taken off her bare feet and they rested by her side.

“I’m really _really_ sorry about this.” Gajeel apologized again.

Levy shrugged and smiled, leaning back on the tree they sat under. “To be honest it’s not the worst first date I’ve been on.”

Gajeel rolled his eyes, a chuckle on his lips. “Yeah sure.”

“No seriously! This one guy thought that going to a beach was a great idea for me.”

“It’s not?”

“Not as a surprise when I don’t have sunscreen.” She said with a small smile, peach gloss that smelled really nice made her lips sparkle. “What about you? What was your worst date?”

“I um… I don’t really date much.”

“ _Really_? Why not? You’re so…” Levy blushed. “I mean you’re so… handsome.”

Gajeel flushed. “Th-thank you. I, uh, I just… didn’t really get out much. Dating wasn’t a top priority, I mean there was Phantom where everyone was afraid of me, and then there was Fairy Tail and I was really hated, and then all of these things kept coming up. You know, Tenrou, Grand Magic Games, Tartorus, Alverez.”

“You had a _year_ in the council with me, you’re telling me you didn’t date _once_?”

“Nah.” He grinned and glanced at her. “I was focused on someone specific at the time. Still am.”

Levy blushed again.

“I am _really_ sorry about tonight.”

“Oh stop apologizing, it wasn’t your fault that the carriage ride to the restaurant didn’t end up booked so they didn’t show up and then that the restaurant was shut down for code-violations with a no-refund policy. And that you’d blown almost all your money on this night, that’s not your fault. We’re going on a mission tomorrow anyway.” She said brightly.

Gajeel snorted. “Yeah. But I was supposed to make tonight perfect and now…” He picked up the bottle of wine between them, it had been brought with the last of his money in an effort to salvage the night.

“Well I think it’s perfect.” She said with a smile.

“W-what?”

Levy smiled and shifted closer to Gajeel. She linked her hand with his and took the bottle of wine away from him. She waved her free hand, writing the spell OPEN in the air above the cork. The cork popped off and she took a swig before handing it to Gajeel. He raised an eyebrow before taking the wine and drinking as well. “I mean, I’m still with you. And that’s all I need for a perfect first date.”


	7. Feb 19th- Grief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betaed by WhatAreAllTheseTears (ffn)/@ilovebeingintroverted
> 
> This... was fun to write as angst always is for me
> 
> Also, sorry if for some of you it's not the 19th yet, for me it is.

_Her grief is quiet._

She sits at the edge of the deathbed, still holding onto the last remnants of her husband. Her children hold her, gently, whispering that it’s time for her to let go, for her to let him go. She doesn’t want to. Ever so slowly, they take her trembling hand from his slack one. They help her stand and they help her walk to the door. It’s been a long time since she could walk on her own, all that time carrying all those books really did hurt her back in the end (just like he said they would). She cries without words, tears silently drip down her face. She wipes her hair, once vibrant blue now a shiny silver, from her face so it doesn’t get wet.

On the anniversary of his death she goes to his grave. She gives him some of his favorite snacks. Every now and then she shines his iron headstone, running her hands slowly over the inscription. She reads to him sometimes too, says she thinks he might be able to hear her. Sometimes she stays up late to reads his favorite book, or she falls asleep on his side of the bed, Pantherlily wrapped in her arms. All this she does in remembrance of him. All of it quietly.

_Her grief is nurturing._

She sits on a chair; the youngest generations of the guild surround her. She smiles and her children sit by her side, staring up at their mother. She takes a sip from a mug and the Guild begins to quiet down until there is nothing heard but the breathing of mages. She opens her mouth and begins to speak. She was always a storyteller, always a teacher. She relays tales in the wake of her husband. She tells them stories of the Guild’s previous masters, she tells them of dragons and those who can kill them. She tells them stories that they know and that they love to hear.

Sometimes when it gets late, she and her friends are the last ones in the guild and they remember. They speak of their lost ones, their loved ones. They tell stories of when their children were still children, when those loved ones were still alive. She has readings of Lucy’s book. They love when she reads it. They love when she conjures illustrations with her magic. They love when her dragons roar and when the fire looks so very real. They love it all.

_Her grief is painful._

She misses him.

* * *

 

_His grief is loud._

He won’t let her go. He screams and claws his way back towards the deathbed, roaring her name. His children drag him away. He calls her name even once he’s too far away to help. His tears burn down his cheeks and they mark his pain for everyone to see. He hasn’t shaved since she first laid down on that bed, his hair unwashed. He wipes it out of his face now, his son pulls strands back from his face, and his daughter holds him in her arms. They huddle in a trio, father, son and daughter, and they mourn her. His cries can be heard from Alverez.

He goes to her grave religiously. He reads her books and gives her updates on the idiotic things that their friends do. He talks to her at all times of day and night. He sleeps on her side of the bed, or in the Guild library. He fights in her name, making everyone know just who he is fighting for. He screams it like a war cry, the Pups screaming it too right after him (that is when the three of them still go on missions). Lily finds him alone most nights, with something of hers near him. Lily is the one to take him to bed. Lily is the one to remind him that he is not alone. He thanks his cat for that.

_His grief is dangerous._

He yells too much because of it. He scares the younger ones sometimes. He knows he does it, he just can’t stop. He doesn’t know how. Sometimes he’ll be fine, for days—weeks even, then something will happen. Something small. And he’ll just… snap. He’ll scare someone and, in the process, he’ll terrify himself. He’ll lock himself away; images of a terrible first meeting and a specific crucifixion haunt him for days. It takes his friends and family to pull him out, and it’s not easy. She was the only thing that could make anything easy when it came to him. Her and the children of course.

Sometimes he gets the shakes, sometimes he gets unnecessarily loud. Sometimes he wakes screaming from nightmares. He tries to work out, but at times his body dissolves under the pressure. Every now and then he’ll break a bone or bruise himself, his children will freak out. His daughter will cuss him into tomorrow (sometimes he understands why his wife was always annoyed when he encouraged his daughter), his son will help him take care of his injuries. They will both take him home, and send him to bed. They’ll tell Pantherlily to watch over him and Lily will. They’ll see him the next day, take him to his wife’s grave, and spend the day as a family while he mourns.

_His grief is painful_.

He misses her.  


	8. Feb 20th - Marriage/Living Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Betaed by WhatAreAllTheseTears (ffn)/ @ilovebeingintroverted (tumblr)

Living together wasn’t as bad as everyone made it to be. By everyone Levy meant Mira, Laxus, Evergreen, Lucy, and Macao and Wakaba. They all complained about their partners, lamenting about the small habits they had, like not putting the toilet seat down or never putting away the milk. Though despite all of that each of them would swear up and down that they wouldn’t have their living arrangements be any other way.

Bisca and Alzack, on the other hand, seemed to be the happiest about living together. They never seemed even slightly irked about the other’s smallest habits. Before moving in Levy had taken Bisca in confidence and asked her if she’d had any tips on living with someone.  Bisca had shaken her head and got that faraway look that she always had when talking about her family. She’d smiled and just said to Levy, “you know, after awhile, the little things just don’t bother you anymore.”

So with that under her metaphorical belt Levy was ready to move out of Fairy Hills and move into Gajeel and Pantherlily’s homey cottage. Gajeel, Lily, Gray, and Natsu helped her move, carrying her boxes while Lucy and Levy made sure they were well hydrated and went over some of the finer points of editing in Lucy’s own story. After all of her boxes were moved into the house Levy and Lucy treated the boys to dinner which… was mostly a mistake as they later realized the mages had eaten them into desperate need for more money. But as jolly as her first few days were there were a few apparent problems.

One of them was the lack of room for Levy’s library. Gajeel and Pantherlily’s house wasn’t large but it wasn’t small. The main room was a living room and a kitchen. It had two bedrooms, one for Gajeel (and Levy now) and the other for Lily but stuck between the two bedrooms was a small room which Gajeel had previously used for storage and extra iron treats he’d found.  It had been cleaned out so that Levy would have a room for her books. They quickly realized that the small room wouldn’t cover for a library as the shelves that they had made barely held up half of Levy’s collection. So the three of them got to work building more bookshelves and they tried to find some wall space, but soon even that was diminishing and the books which Levy loved so much were not. So the project was put on a backburner until a surplus of money had been accumulated so that they could flesh out the project of building Levy a proper home for her beloved books, meanwhile they had found a home on Gajeel’s floor which was fine until Gajeel needed to get up in the middle of the night and he stubbed his toe on a particularly large tome which made him stumbled and land on another and so on. By the time Gajeel had made it into the hallway he was exhausted and trying _really_ hard not to curse loudly and wake up his partner who had somehow slept through his bumbling.

Another problem was the temperature. Living in a cottage was nice except that Gajeel had a tile floor and Magnolia was known for getting extremely cold during winter. Gajeel however liked the cold, he liked the burst of feeling when he rose in the morning from his warm bed. He liked the frosty window glass and aesthetically Levy couldn’t really disagree. However waking up and feeling the temperature _drop_ dramatically when she moved her arm outside of the blanket was not something she was fond of. After a few arguments which mainly centered around whether or not the couple should buy some rugs to cover the cold floor (Gajeel didn’t want them because he’d have to wash them {which Levy promised she would do} and because Gajeel didn’t like the feel of the rugs against his feet) they decided that Levy would just have to own many pairs of slippers. So the house was speckled with small fuzzy shoes so that no matter where Levy was in the house she could always put on a pair. (Gajeel did love the way she walked around the house during winter, piling layer after layer onto herself so she looked like a marshmallow, waddling around with a small cup of tea or cocoa in her hands.) Pantherlily even adopted the slipper habit, though Gajeel refrained.

The most prevalent one was the one of diet. Not that the food that Gajeel ate on a regular basis was _unhealthy_ per say (it was, but apparently big appetites of solely fatty and meaty foods as well as some tempered iron for dessert were less damaging to an Iron Dragon Slayer than a normal mage) but it wasn’t a very wide variety. Levy was the first to go grocery shopping once they began living together and she came home with a cart of vegetables and proteins. Gajeel raised an eyebrow at the foodstuffs.

“What is this?” He asked.

“It’s a vegetable, Gajeel. People eat them. They’re healthy.”

Gajeel snorted and tossed the green thing on the table as he helped Levy unload the products she had bought. “What is _this_?”

“It’s a smoothie maker.”

Gajeel frowned before placing it on the counter next to him. “And this…?”

“ _Mavis_ Gajeel, you act like you’ve never eaten anything but carbohydrates and meat!”

Gajeel blinked at her. Levy rolled her eyes. “And I can’t believe that _you’re_ the cook between the two of us.”

“My food is good and it’s filling!”

“Yes Gajeel, but it could also give Master Makarov a heart attack with everything you put in it.”

Gajeel harrumphed and sniffed at the strawberries that Levy had picked up. “Fine.” He said. “But I’m not cooking any of this stuff.” He decided that he didn’t like green food, that green was an unnatural color for edibles to be.

“That’s okay, I’ll just cook it-“

“Yeah, no.”

“What do you mean _no_?” Levy argued, placing her hands on her hips.

“Shrimp, you can’t cook for shit.”

“Well if I don’t cook it and you won’t cook it then it’ll just rot here!” Gajeel scowled. Levy knew how much he hated the smell of rot, it burned in his sensitive nose and even the word made his schnoz twitch. “I’ll cook it and you’ll teach me how in a way where I don’t-“

“Burn down the house?”

Levy gave him a Look. “Yeah, sure. Aaaand you’re eating some.”

“Uh uh. You can eat it if you want but I’m going nowhere near it.”

“Gajeel, your diet isn’t healthy!”

“Green food isn’t healthy.”

“It’s very healthy. It grows out of the ground.”

Gajeel crinkled his nose in disgust. “So does fungus. We don’t eat that.” He argued.

“Look at the bottom of the bag.” Levy responded. Gajeel sifted through the rest of the groceries and pulled out a bag of mushrooms. “Those are the healthy ones.” Levy said with a sense of pride. Gajeel dropped them like he’d been burned before hesitantly sniffing them.

“Just _try_ some vegetables.  Tonight with dinner I’ll make a salad. No cooking required just a knife and water to wash the vegetables. Trust me, you’ll love it once you try it.”

Gajeel grumbled but when dinner came he tried the new foods and decided that he disliked them. Pantherlily (traitor) applauded Levy for making such a fine salad and almost devoured whatever Levy herself didn’t eat. It looked like Gajeel had lost that fight and that the scourge of flora would remain in his house.

But besides for those few arguments most of what Bisca said rang true for Levy. The little things like the fact that Gajeel always left hair in his hairbrush instead of throwing it out or that he didn’t put the cap back onto the toothpaste after using it and let the excess toothpaste dry around the mouth of the bottle until there were multiple layers of crusted tooth-cleaner where there shouldn’t have been had stopped bothering her after a while. After only a month living with him she felt at home, and she was.


End file.
